[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 139 (Thursday, September 29, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 29, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                   THE URUGUAY ROUND TRADE AGREEMENT

  Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I come to the floor with the momentous 
news that the Committee on Finance has unanimously, 19 to 0, reported 
the Uruguay round trade agreement to the floor, the largest and most 
important trade agreement in history.
  President Clinton is quoted in the New York Times this morning as 
having said, and I say accurately and clearly it is the view of the 
committee: This is the biggest trade agreement in history. It is the 
biggest worldwide tax cut in history by reductions in tariffs that will 
give us 300,000 to 500,000 new high-wage jobs in the next few years.
  A point that perhaps needs to be noted, tariffs are taxes. Until the 
Constitution was amended to allow the income tax to be levied by the 
Federal Government, most of our revenue came from tariffs.
  This is a tax cut. It redeems a commitment the United States made 50 
years ago at the Bretton Woods Agreement to establish, along with the 
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, an international trade 
organization. That proposal died. In the Senate Finance Committee a 
half century later now it comes alive again.
  It is a hugely important event, and I do greatly thank my friends for 
allowing me to interrupt their matters in order to bring this important 
announcement to the floor.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor with great gratitude to the Senator 
from New York.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I commend the senior Senator from New 
York for the excellent work that he does in his chairmanship of the 
Finance Committee moving things along.
  One of the things that also happened, I understand of recent days, 
was to approve the Finance Committee section of the Superfund. So that 
is ready to come to the floor.
  I congratulate our colleague and look forward to the day when the new 
railroad station in New York will be able to accommodate with 
convenience, safety and enjoyment the commuters from New Jersey who 
often travel through Penn Station to their jobs in New York.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  (Mr. CAMPBELL assumed the chair.)
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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